The invention relates to a hinge for a packaging or cargo box or the like.
The outer configuration of such a hinge is known from the publication DE 203 08 234 U1, in particular, from FIGS. 3 and 9. The principle inner configuration of such a hinge is known from the publication DE 298 08 910 U1 that is involved with, in particular, the configuration of a damper for the hinge motion. The inner configuration of a hinge of the type noted above is shown in FIGS. 5-8 accompanying this document and will now be discussed in more detail.
Such a hinge that is designated overall with 10 has a first hinge leaf 11 and a smaller second hinge leaf 12. The latter can be inserted into a holder 20. The holder 20 is not of further interest here. It is shown and described in detail in the publication DE 203 08 234 U1 mentioned above. The second hinge leaf 12 has a first bearing bushing 15a and a second bearing bushing 15b between which a bearing bushing 15c of the first hinge leaf 11 can rotate about a common hinge axis 22. An axle tube 13 can be locked in rotation with the bearing bushing 15c of the first hinge leaf 11, in the shown case by not-shown external teeth on the periphery of the axle tube 13 that engages with a positive fit in internal teeth of the bearing bushing 15c. In the bearing bushings 15a and 15b of the second hinge leaf 12, the axle tube 13 can be supported so that it can rotate. A torsion spring 18 is locked in rotation with the first bearing bushing 15a of the second hinge leaf 12 by a disk-shaped torque converter support 14a and a cylinder pin 14b. The torsion spring 18 is arranged in the axle tube 13 and attached with one end to the axle tube. According to the diagram in FIG. 7, the axle tube 13 is closed on its upper end and the bent end of the torsion spring 18 arranged therein is connected to the axle tube 13 by a cylinder pin 14c. The torque converter support 14a and the cylinder pin 14b lock the other end of the torsion spring 18 in rotation to the second hinge leaf 12, as is similarly shown in FIG. 7. A damper designated overall with 16 for the hinge motion that has, in principle, the configuration known from the publication DE 298 08 910 U1 noted above is connected to the second hinge leaf 12 and the axle tube 13. The damper 16 has a damping vane that can rotate in a chamber of a damper housing 16a filled with viscous damping material and that has, on its axially outer end, two catch pins 16b that engage in corresponding recesses in the adjacent end of the axle tube 13. A sleeve 17 for holding the damper 16 by an adhesive epoxy resin 19 is mounted on the second bearing bushing 15b of the second hinge leaf 12. The sleeve 17 has a polygonal construction on the inside in cross section, in order to be able to lock the damper housing 16a in rotation, wherein this damper housing has a similar polygonal construction on the outside. When the damper 16 is inserted into the sleeve 17, the sleeve 17 is closed at the end with a cover 24. The cover 24 is mounted on the sleeve 17 similarly with the help of the adhesive epoxy resin 19. The damper housing 16a is likewise mounted in the sleeve 17 with the help of the adhesive epoxy resin 19. The damping vane, which is the moving part of the damper 16, rotates with the axle tube 13, when the two hinge leaves 11, 12 are moved relative to each other. Before the cylinder pin 14b is inserted, the torsion spring 18 is biased by turning the torque converter support 14a. The desired biasing state is then fixed by inserting the cylinder pin 14b. Setting and fixing the biasing state is not simple, because the positions of the torque converter support 14a in which the cylinder pin 14 can be inserted into the corresponding passage borehole in the torque converter support 14a, lie at least 180° apart from each other. Because the spring constants of the springs used as torsion springs 18 can have relatively large tolerances, it is often a tedious process until the correct biasing state is set, after which rotational steps of only a half revolution are available.
When the cover (not shown) of a cargo box is closed, wherein this cover is mounted on the first hinge leaf 11, the hinge leaf 11 is moved by the movement of the cover from the position shown with dash-dot lines in FIG. 8 into the position shown in FIG. 8 with solid lines. The biased torsion spring 18 is here further biased so that its torsion force acts in the opening direction of the hinge 10, that is, in the direction of the position shown with dash-dot lines in FIG. 8. This configuration simplifies the opening of the cover of a cargo box. When the cover is unlocked, the cover is moved into the position shown with dash-dot lines in FIG. 8 by the biased torsion spring, with the tension in the torsion spring 18 being increasingly reduced.
When such hinges are used for cargo boxes in airplanes, the hinge weight is a very important criterion. The assembly costs of such a hinge, however, are criteria that are no less important for this or any other application. The weight of the hinge is in direct relationship to the number of its individual parts. The assembly costs are similarly based on the number of individual parts to be assembled and also on whether the assembly is simple or complicated. With respect to both criteria, the known hinge described above appears to need improvements. The known hinge must be made freely accessible from two sides for the assembly in the hinge axis. This limits not only the installation possibilities of the hinge, but also makes the assembly complicated and also increases the number of parts that are absolutely required. The production of adhesive connections makes at least one additional processing step necessary.
In this way, in the case of the assembly, not only is the setting of the correct biasing of the torsion spring 18 difficult, but the mounting of the sleeve 17 is also difficult. The damper 16 is bonded in the sleeve 17. The sleeve 17 must be brought into a suitable position beforehand, so that the catch pins 16b can also be inserted in the correct position in corresponding catch openings in the end face of the axle tube 13. Therefore, the assembly is typically performed so that the sleeve 17 is set on the second bearing bushing 15b and a dummy is inserted into the sleeve instead of the damper 16. When the sleeve 17 and the dummy have the correct position, the sleeve 17 is bonded with the second bearing bushing 15b. Then the dummy is removed again and replaced by the damper 16 that is now inserted in the correct position in the sleeve 17 and can be fixed therein. Only then can the cover 24 be bonded.
The assembly can be made more difficult in that the boreholes in the bearing bushings 15a and 15b are not round. The hinge 10 is typically made from a fiberglass-containing plastic and is made through injection molding. Injection-molded parts made from plastic, however, tend to contract on one side, which expresses itself in that the boreholes of the bearing bushings 15a and 15b are not round, but are, instead, oval. If this is discovered during assembly, then the bearing boreholes of the bearing bushings 15a and 15b are preferably refinished.